A poly-leucine transmembrane domain library was randomized at positions corresponding to contact surfaces for a right-handed crossing of two helices to determine the significance of small residues, GxxxG motifs, and hydrogen ...

Degradation of articular cartilage results in poor joint movement and afflicts millions of patients each year. Since this tissue is incapable of self-repair, developing new approaches to treat injured cartilage would be a ...

The mammalian neuronal Sec1p/Munc18 protein Muncl8a binds tightly to the t-SNARE Syntaxin1a in isolation, and the binary Muncl8a/Syntaxin1a interaction is thought to prevent formation of the Syntaxin1a/SNAP25b t-SNARE ...

Subcellular cargos are transported by enzyme molecules called molecular motors by using the chemical energy from hydrolysis of ATP and performing mechanical work in non-equilibrium. Certain motors tread on cytoskeleton ...

The role of His(E7) in ligand binding to HbA was re-examined in view of
discrepancies between early kinetic studies and recent structure determinations.
Replacing His(E7) with Gly, Leu, Phe, and Trp causes 20- to 500-fold ...

Peroxisomes compartmentalize a variety of important metabolic reactions including fatty acid β-oxidation and the related process of IBA β-oxidation. Peroxisomal proteins are encoded by nuclear genes and must be ...

Peroxisomes are single membrane-bound organelles that function to compartmentalize certain metabolic reactions critical to plant and animal development. I have studied peroxisomal processes in the model plant Arabidopsis ...

Vertebrate development requires that cell proliferation be properly coordinated with morphogenesis, the process by which an embryo acquires form, and cell specification, the process by which unique cellular characteristics ...

Globins constitute a superfamily of proteins that bind a heme cofactor and have
diverse physiological roles, ranging from oxygen management to nitric oxide scavenging
to gas sensing. Sperm whale myoglobin (Mb) has remained ...

The cohesin complex is responsible for the fidelity of chromosomal segregation during mitosis. It consists of four core subunits namely Rad21/Mcd1/Sccl, Smc1, Smc3 and one of the yeast Scc3 orthologs SA1 or SA2. Sister ...

Genetic studies have provided evidence that the hsp70 escort protein Hep1 is essential for maintaining the solubility of the mitochondrial chaperones Ssc1 and Ssq1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, little is known about ...

Because Drosophila do not grow after initiation of metamorphosis, their final body size is determined by larval growth rate and duration of the larval growth phase. Drosophila metamorphosis is triggered by the steroid ...

AprA (Autocrine Proliferation Repressor) is a secreted factor that represses proliferation in the slime mold Diclyostelium discoideum . Although the role AprA plays in the regulation of proliferation is known, the signaling ...